In 2013 LAcarGUY and Grades of Green through the Trash-Free Lunch Challenge and beckoned students from 16 different schools to try to reduce their waste while furthering education efforts. Since that challenge the winning school, Riviera Elementary, has been putting the prize money to good use making their school even more environmentally friendly. They also went on to have a contest of their own, which resulted in a very cool mural made from a unique material, that should be recycled far more often than it is. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aw1Q99_lcc?start=2367&w=420&h=315]

About the Trash-Free Lunch Challenge In a partnership with Grades of Green, LAcarGUY started the Trash-Free Lunch Challenge to help reduce waste and teach students about eco-friendly habits. The contest was successful in educating students how to reduce their waste, reuse what they can, recycle everything else and finally to recover energy from unusable products. It also drastically reduced lunchtime waste, (by as much as 70% in some schools).

Riviera Elementary Efforts for a More Sustainable School After Allison Cohen, a parent of one of the children at Riviera Elementary, noticed just how much waste the school was producing at lunch time every day, she knew that something had to be done. She quickly formed “the Green Team” an organization of more than 35 different students to try and improve the health and sustainability of the school. Thanks to the Green Team as well as the prize money from the Trash-Free Lunch Challenge Riviera Elementary was able to pay to switch from Styrofoam trays to a compostable alternative at lunch time. They also setup permanent sorting stations for recyclables around the school collecting everything from typical recyclables, to compost, liquids and even unopened food. The simple sorting station was able to lower landfill trash from 12 bags a day down to two. Just these two actions should help Riviera remove a high amount of waste from their community and they set a good example for the rest of the community, and other schools to follow along with.

A Creative Reminder to Recycle The school also held a contest to see what classroom could collect the most bottle caps. By the end of the contest the school amassed more than 400 lbs. of material that would have ended up in a landfill. All of this was put to use to construct a mural to the school and to make a statement about recycling. Lexi Rampolla, a 5th grader at Riviera, came up with the design of the mural and students and adults came together to put the project together using paint, plywood, and hardware donated by a local Lowes. The finished product serves as an impressive reminder to avoid waste whenever possible. The mural was unveiled at a school-wide assembly and is now being displayed at the school to inspire students, staff members and visitors to be environmentally conscious, and should do so for years to come.

About Grades of Green Grades of Green is a non-profit focused on environmental education. Their mission is to teach students from kindergarten up through 12th grade about the importance of reducing waste and reusing materials whenever possible. Not only do they sponsor or put together competitions such as the Trash-Free Lunch Challenge, but they also take their time to educate children whenever they can. Their work is helping to build more environmentally-conscious citizens and a brighter future for our country.

Subaru has put a lot of time and effort into making their company one of the greenest automotive manufacturers out there today. If you’re interested in getting a vehicle that isn’t as hard on the environment, one of the many PZEV vehicles from Subaru would make an excellent option.

PZEV Vehicle

Today only vehicles that meet the most stringent emission standards can be labeled PZEV or part zero emission vehicles, and Subaru makes several different models that meet this standard. Each of these vehicles are designed carefully to burn nearly all of the gasoline that they use, making them the cleanest gasoline powered vehicles in the states. Thanks to the careful engineering of these vehicles, they give off less harmful emissions into the air.

These vehicles come equipped with a 15-year or 150,000 mile warranty covering the emissions system and any possible defects of the system.

Cleaner Exhaust

In urban areas the exhaust out of a PZEV vehicle may actually be cleaner than the air you’re breathing. That’s because fuel is burnt so completely. On top of having an efficient engine these vehicles also rely on a more effective catalytic converter to convert a higher percentage of harmful gases before they are released from the muffler of the vehicle

No Landfills

On top of following these stringent emission guidelines, Subaru has also created their factory and headquarters into the most efficient automotive facility in the United States. Both the headquarters and the Subaru factory are zero landfill facilities, which means any waste produced during vehicle production is either reused for a different purpose or sent to be recycled. Subaru was the first automaker to start operating a zero landfill factory leading the way for other automakers in the industry.

If you want to get a new vehicle that’s more environmentally friendly keep Subaru in mind. Their commitment to green technology is inspiring and hopefully a trend that other automakers will follow in the future.

Rather than build an entire new building for our new Fisker Santa Monica store, we took an existing building that was our former Lexus Santa Monica store, remodeled it to be as green as we can be, and will be selling the first truly Eco-conscious luxury car, the Fisker Karma. Let’s let Mike Sullivan tell you all about it.

LAcarGUY doesn’t just talk the talk when it comes to living green, we embrace it with arms wide open! Over the years we have done many things to help minimize our carbon footprint, and with our new Open Charging Stations, helping others as well.

For the Holiday Season LAcarGUY are working with Sustainable Works to have Zero Waste BBQ’s at all ten of our dealerships and state-of-the-art body centers. We are not only leading by example, but also teaching others to follow in our footsteps as well.

In 2008, LAcarGUY completed the Sustainable Works Business Greening Program, which resulted in a fifty percent landfill waste reduction after implementing companywide recycling programs.
In working with Sustainable Works we are able to divert more than 90% of the waste generated for the holiday BBQ’s from landfills by recycling and composting.

We’d like to thank those that joined us this year at our events and are always looking for suggestions of how we can be more responsible to the environment, we look forward to doing even more great things in 2011.